The disclosure relates to packing members. More particularly, it relates to a packing reinforcement member which may be used in shipping containers or boxes for metal cabinets, shelves, drawers, etc. or any object to be shipped. Specifically, the packing members may be used in corners of shipping boxes or containers to provide reinforcement and rigidity and to prevent crushing.
Protecting members are frequently used between shipping cartons and an object being shipped in the carton. These protecting members are often required by shipping regulations such as by the United Parcel Service (UPS). For example, molded paper pulp corner protectors have been used for spacing an object such as a piece of furniture from the corners of the shipping carton. The corner protectors are designed to absorb shock while at the same time reasonably securely positioning the item of furniture or other object within the carton. Some corner protectors include concavely dished or centrally pinched side walls adapted for engaging the furniture corner within the triangular form of the corner protector. Other corner protectors have side walls with plural indentations extending upwardly from the base of the protector for some short or intermediate distance. A problem with these devices is they fail to provide adequate protection for the object being shipped because of a lack of firmness, heaviness, or resistance to crushing on the part of the protector, and also because the prior protectors have had insufficient general thickness to protect the object being shipped from sharp blows, shocks from falls, vertical loads, and the like. Some protectors lack the desired cushioning or resilience as well as the adaptability of conformity to the shipped object.
Accordingly, there is a need for corner or side packing reinforcement members which are bendable or flexible but also rigid and sturdy enough to withstand lateral and vertically applied forces.